Su Wanning walked out of the auditorium in a daze. Tears brimmed in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
She had spent three grueling months preparing for that role, only to have someone snatch it away so easily.
She had not even been given a fair chance to compete.
The helplessness and humiliation nearly suffocated her.
She had barely taken a few steps when a mocking voice she loathed sounded behind her.
"Well, if it isn't our big star. What's wrong? Leaving already?"
Gao Yuanyuan sashayed over with several lackeys and blocked Su Wanning's path.
She looked Su Wanning up and down, her eyes gleaming with triumphant contempt.
"I have to say, that scene you just did was pretty good. I nearly cried."
Gao Yuanyuan put on an exaggerated voice. "Too bad acting well doesn't matter. In Longdu's entertainment world, talent alone won't get you anywhere."
She raised a finger tipped with bright red nail polish and tapped Su Wanning's shoulder, her tone smug and patronizing.
"You need connections. Someone powerful backing you. Understand?"
"So give up that lofty dream of being an actress. Your father's nearly bankrupt and can barely save himself. Where would he get the money to pave your way?"
Gao Yuanyuan's words stabbed into Su Wanning's heart like knives.
The Su Family business had indeed run into trouble recently. Its cash flow was failing, and the family was asking everywhere for help.
Not many people knew about it.
"I hear Boss Zhang over on the east side of town is putting together a new production. A big-budget one."
Gao Yuanyuan leaned close to Su Wanning's ear, lowered her voice, and smiled suggestively.
"Boss Zhang loves innocent little girls with a stubborn streak, just like you. If you're willing to go 'discuss the